Robert Mugabe should soften stance against the West

President Robert Mugabe of Zimbabwe took over the rotational chairmanship of the African Union (AU) from President Mohamed Ould Abdel Aziz of Mauritania on Friday last week and promised to uplift the standards of the people of Africa.

Mugabe also promised to pay closer attention to matters of infra-structure, climate change and agriculture.

Despite the promises, Mugabe's appointment raised eyebrows for two main reasons. His advanced age and trademark antagonistic stand against Western countries and America, presumably because of the sanctions instituted against Zimbabwe by these powers.

In 2005, the union's presidency bypassed Sudan's Omar Bashir because of the warrant of arrest against him by the International Criminal Court (ICC) for crimes against humanity.

Due to sanctions by some western countries, Mugabe faces travel bans, which could hamper his work as chairman of the AU, although this has not prohibited him from doing his duty in the past.

Top on the agenda of the meeting in Addis Ababa was the need for the creation of an African Court to move African countries away from The Hague-based ICC, which is generally perceived to be hostile to African leaders.

The push for an African court is spearheaded by Kenya, with ample backing from Uganda whose president has shown mixed loyalty to ICC.

Mugabe's elevation comes at a time the West and America are actively involved in the fight against terrorism and emerging radicalism in the continent.

But Mugabe's attitude towards the West might occasion a slackening of these efforts. This might entrench the insurgents since African countries seem to be lacking the will and wherewithal to fight them.

Again, the fight against Ebola is far from over. Africa lacks the means and capacity to fight the Ebola menace, which calls for collaboration with Western countries, which are technologically advanced.

Africa needs greater collaboration with the rest of the world and for this reason, African statesmen must prevail upon the AU chairman to soften his hard stance against the West and allow for collaborative development.